The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1887-09-22

mOdel!@ Lake OF Como and Ovld!'
The turn the conversation had taken
caused some anger in the breast of the
painter of "Nero's Dream;'' and draw
ing himself up, he explained with in
dignant warmth that the girl was no
ordinary frequenter of studios, and that
having nothing in common with those
of the profession she was the imperson-
alton of modesty and virtue.
II would answer for her as for my
sister," he exclaimed, with flushed
cheeks and flashing eyes:
"See here, Frederick, don't fly off at
a tangent. She is pretty, confounded-
ly pretty. How long have you known
herP'
''Only for a few months. She is re-
served and good. and worthy the hon
est love of any man."
"Go it, Fred, my boy! 1 say, though,
it you keep on you will end by speak
ing blank verse. BY the way, though,
what a splendid title and subject for a
picture: The Organ Grinders Child;
or, the Artists Infatuation.'"
Laugh on. my critic! and yet I still
dare to affirm that the girl is honest
and good"
In fact Graziella merited all that the
artist could say in her defence. At the
age of Is she had left her native coun-
try, the superb coast of Sorrento, to
emigrate with a band of Neapolitans,
and a few weeks later had disembark-
ed with a miscellaneous assortment of
good and evil at Castle Garden New
York.
Having neither father nor mother,
Graziella had brought with her no
other souvenir than the memory of her
native village and her young lazzarone
lover, who passed his days sleeping
under the vines by the sea-, often hay
ing no other breakfast than the warm
rays of sunlight that penetrate every
nook and corner of that favored land.
Upon the arrival of Graziella and
her Neapolitan friends in New York
the band became scattered, though a
large number settled in the neighbour
hood of Marion and Crosby streets,
| while Graziella found a home for her.
self with an old country woman of hers
in a dreary house devoid of sunshine
and all other comforts, except that of
the protection and goodwill of the old
woman.
The girls only pleasure was TO sally
forth at daybreak, and after a long walk
to wander about Castle Garden. which
became her habitual promenade; so
that might have supposed that the
bright little figure doomed there like
the other flowers.
After the fashion of many of her
country women she retained the ma
tional costume, which consisted of a
green pittycoat short enough to reveal
tidy shoes and stockings, a dark velvet
bodice, the never-failing striped apron,
and the white head covering that set
off to advantage the g%lossiness of the
thick black hair. The cleanliness of
her apparel amounted almost to dain-
tiness.
AS an exception to her race, her COM
plexion was pink and white. in strong
contrast to the usual dark-olive hue Of
the ordinary Neapolitan. Her COM
plexion was not only fine, but her fea-
lures were of the utmost regularity,
Coral lips, tiny mouth, and large, ten
der eyes, shaded by long lashes, ar
rested the attention of passersby; and
not unfrequently poor Graziella was
frightened by the undisguised admira-
ton of the unknown who c~ongregated
at the Battery on Sunday afternoons.
If by chance she was accosted by
some unknown person, she quietly be-
took herself to another part of the
park, to dream in peace in the beauti-
full October sunlight of New York.
These hours of dolce far niente be-
became less and less frequent, however;
for Graziella, likes her compatriots, was
obliged to earn her daily bread, bread,
which she. had also to share with the
| old woman to whom she owed shelter.
To provide for her wants this girl
had two resources; namely to pose as
a model; for artists during the morn
ing. and in the afternoon to turn the
handle of a small organ in the most
trequented streets.
She had been initiated into the pro-
fession of model by Frederick Holt,
who had seen her one day turning the
h~andorgan opposite the window of
M~artinelli's restaurant, where he was
dining. Her natural beauty and SIM
pie grace at n attracted his trained
eye, that was ever or the alert for
the picturesque and the beautiful.
Soon the girl became q favorite in
the studios, where by posing three or
four hours daily she was eventually
enabled to hire a more cheerful room
for herself and the old woman. whom
she would not abandon in the days
of her comparative prosperity.
Notwithstanding her seeming con-
tentment, a sigh would sometimes
escape from the little Graziella's lips
the mute expression of a longing
desire to see her lover, Salvatore,
who was SO far away. -
Her only amusement evenings was
to count up the little earnings of the
day, over and above the modest needs
of the small household. An old
woollen stocking was the receptacle
for these coins, and a dilapidated
chest the safety deposit vault of the
stocking.
..And when shall l have five hum
dred dollars, l 1wonderp" Graziella
would repeat to herself with weary,
yearning iteration.
Five hundred dollars!
That was the sum the young girl had
fixed on to carry her back to Sorrento.
1t was to be the dowry she had set her
heart on-her marriage basket the day
she would become the legitimate wife
of worthy Salvatore, who in the mean
time was patiently idling away his
time and awaiting. his bride, sleeping
under the orange-trees like a DOR
mouse.
Alas! it would take a long time yet